Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has announced a slew of perks for the members of the legislative assembly, including a car, fuel, and an assistant. Making the announcement under Rule 110 in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, CM Vijay said the move aims to enable the legislators to carry out their people-connect, public work, and constituency visits more effectively
“The MLAs need to travel to their constituencies frequently to address the people’s problems and issues. Government vehicles will ensure transparent and corruption-free governance,” Vijay informed the assembly while justifying the additional expense to be incurred by the government.
While reading out a statement under Rule 110 in the assembly, he said that there are a number of legislators in the current assembly who have been elected for the first time. “Most of the first-time MLAs come from a very humble background and do not have money to fund their expenses,” Vijay said. He said that they need a car to carry out their duties as people’s representatives within and outside their own constituencies.
The announcement was made by the TVK chief after one of the VCK MLAs, Jothimani, said that he could not work effectively as he does not have logistics support. He said there are MLAs who do not have money to buy even footwear. He requested logistics support and cars for the MLAs.
Later, Vijay announced that an allowance of Rs. 75,000 per month will be given to the MLAs for expenses related to a driver, fuel, and maintenance of cars. Apart from this, a car will also be given to the legislators. Additionally, the MLAs will also get a state grant of Rs. 25,000 to hire a secretary for official work.
While the move was welcomed by the TVK MLAs and also its ally Congress, the opposition DMK has slammed the announcement, saying it will only lead to additional expenses and burden the exchequer. The new initiative will cause an additional expenditure of Rs. 2.34 crore every month to the exchequer, exclusive of GST.
The government is already paying Rs. 1,05,000 as a monthly salary. This was increased from Rs. 55,000 per month to Rs. 1,05,000 in 2017 when Edappadi K. Palaniswami was the chief minister. And this monthly salary includes a basic salary of Rs. 30,000, constituency allowance of Rs. 25,000, vehicle allowance of Rs. 25,000, compensatory allowance of Rs. 10,000, telephone allowance of Rs. 7,500, consolidated allowance of Rs. 5,000, and postal allowance of Rs. 2,500. Apart from this, the legislators are also provided with Rs. 3.54 crore as a constituency fund, inclusive of Rs. 54 lakh GST amount, every year.
